The world would be a better place if we all responded to people as four year olds do.
Today, I took my four year old Abigail to her dance studio for pictures. All the little girls were running around in their tutus with their hair in ballet buns and just as beautiful as can be.
There was a mother there I had not met before - her daughter was brought to class by her grandmother during the year so I'd actually never met the mom, who worked during the day. This mom was a young woman with a malformed hand. It reminded me of Thalidomide malformations, but she is way too young for that to be the cause. Her forearm ended in a very small hand, with only a semblance of fingers.
I didn't even notice until I saw that all the little ballerinas were clustered around this woman, including my daughter. She was showing them her hand, and they were touching it and asking questions about it. The little girl whose mother it was was standing beside her mother and beaming, apparently proud that her mom was the center of attention.
On the way home, I didn't mention it but Abigail brought it up. She said "Did you see Sage's Mommy? She has a big hand and a baby hand." I said "Yes, I saw her." Abigail then said "She has yellow hair just like Sage does. She was so pretty."
My daughter saw the disability, and dismissed it as not being as important as the fact that the mom looked like her daughter and was pretty.
Lord, grant me the innocent spirit of a four year old when I meet people that are in any way different from me.
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
That story just made my day. I'm glad you shared it.
space opera
Posted by HesterGray (Member # 7384) on :
That is beautiful. Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
quote:The world would be a better place if we all responded to people as four year olds do.
Why? Posted by romanylass (Member # 6306) on :
Belle, that was great. Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
That's so awesome.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
I don't know, I have it on pretty good authority that four-year-olds don't respond at all well to James Bond movies.
Sorry. Didn't mean to inject my cynicism into your thread. The stuff kind of follows me around, and it tends to get left behind wherever I go, like snail slime.
Anyway, yes, that's a charming story. A child's innocence can be a refreshing escape from the coldness of the adult world.
Edit: Suddenly I feel compelled to point out that the last paragraph was not meant to be sarcastic, while the others were meant to be jokes. It came out looking worse than I meant it.
[ May 02, 2005, 11:04 PM: Message edited by: Verily the Younger ]
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